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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The holiday season is here, and we’re still tired! I thought the sleep depravation was supposed to end around four months, but I thought wrong. The boys are doing well and now over seven months old, with one at 20 pounds and the other near 18, but our little night owl still won’t sleep through the night. This is still the biggest challenge for us, as we never get a full night’s sleep. His latest thing is that he gets up for a bottle, and then refuses to go back to sleep. Getting up for two hours in the middle of the night has been so frustrating. I’ve spoken to other parents who say their babies never slept through the night until they were over a year old, so this could continue for quite some time. Last night I finally let him cry for about 15 minutes, and then he fell back to sleep. I’m not a fan of the “cry it out” method, but it seemed to be the only option, other than getting out toys and staying awake half the night.

On the positive side, it’s been fun buying and wrapping Christmas presents for them, and last week I took them to get their picture taken with Santa. They did very well and neither one cried. They even seemed to enjoy doing our Christmas shopping at the mall after the picture and liked all the attention they received from strangers.

Both boys are now mobile, which introduces a whole new set of challenges around the house. We have a two-story home, so we’re going to get baby gates for the stairs soon. They’ve also discovered the Christmas tree, and it’s as if they know all those colorful presents are for them. I don’t think they’ve figured out what “no” means, so we keep steering them away from the temptation! We also had to lower the mattresses in their cribs because it looked like they would soon be able to pull themselves over the rail.

I took the boys last month to get RSV shots – apparently twins are at greater risk, so they need to get shots once per month until Spring. This was my first time with them at the doctor when they got shots, and I felt so bad for them. As soon as that needle went in, you would think someone had hit them over the head. It took about ten minutes to calm them and wipe away the tears after the shots. Next week we’ll have to do it all over again. I remember as a child being terrified of the doctor and shots, so I can definitely sympathize with them.

Dinner time has become interesting now that they’re eating solid baby food. The bigger twin eats anything we give him with no problems while the smaller twin takes a little coaxing at times. I think we already know who our picky eater will be! I know some of our neighbors make their own baby food, like boiling and then mashing sweet potatoes. I’m going to ask for advice on this to find out what works best at this age.

I can’t wait for Christmas morning to see the excitement on their faces as they rip open their presents. They’re really into tearing paper now, so they may enjoy the process more than the toys.

About Me

I'm a 43 year old gay father. My partner and I had our twin boys via the surrogacy process in 2008. Since being laid off from my job, I've been a stay at home dad. I posses a BS degree in Journalism and Communication and enjoy writing.